A “cultural programme” organised by a Delhi Congress worker Neeraj Jha, who is also aspiring to be an MLA, triggered massive controversy as some female dancers were called to perform on the stage on bollywood and bhojpuri songs.
Some spectators also joined the dancers on the stage and started showering currency notes on them. The programme was organised on Sunday evening to garner Purvanchali votes in the Kirari constituency, which has a BJP MLA.
However, the organiser of the show Neeraj Jha maintained that it was a “cultural programme” and the person who climbed up on the stage and danced with the girls was a spectator and not a party member.
“I was not on the stage. The programme was completely cultural and the dance was being performed as a part of it. A man Ravinder Paswan climbed on the stage and started dancing with the girls and showering currency notes on them. I don’t know him and he is also not a party member. He just jumped out from the spectator’s gallery and started dancing. It is not our fault,” Mr Jha told this newspaper.
However, senior BJP leader and MLA from Krishnanagar Dr Harshwardhan asked the ruling Congress party to maintain some decorum on public forum.
“I think all political parties should maintain a decorum publicly. We expect something better from the Congress party which has a history of 125 years,” he told this newspaper. The programme was a part of city Congress’s drive to garner votes of Purvanchalis in the upcoming Assembly elections. About 85 per cent voters in the Kirari Assembly constituency are from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.